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It's been so pretty here in southern Indiana, and I was happy that on Holy Saturday we had dry weather and warmish temps. I was anxious to get the 401 out and hook up the new (Bolens) cart and give tractor rides! My daughter is the little blonde. He name is Autumn. She is holding our dog, Massey Maria Molina Margarita! The kids are my niece and nephew, Emma and Ben. We drove that little tractor through all of the neighborhood and enjoyed the fresh air and blooming trees. Happy Easter!

I have bought a few Wheel Horse's lately but haven't been on Red Square in a while. Been on Facebook a lot though, seems like a lot of WH nuts are on there! I picked up a descent one owner 401 with it's original mower deck and original 4 hp. Kohler engine that runs and mows and came with a Bolens front mounted sickle bar mower. The rims were repainted and the old farmer dude painted the tires too, oops! I can strip it off and wire wheel the paint off of the tires, just a lot of work though! Also got a WH Model 701 for cheap at $30.00 delivered to my door, it is mostly a parts machine and missing a lot of parts, been slowly adding parts to it. That is the 2nd 701 I have gotten lately. Just got a nice original condition 1966 Model 856 with a nice mower deck from a member here. It has all 4 wrong tires and rims on it but I have some original types to put on it. It has some nice parts on it and we got it running after a few hours of working on it. I am trying to trade it off for a 1956 RJ35 that a buddy has and don't like. That is about all I have been able to scarf up lately but it will keep me busy for a while! Hope to get the RJ35 in a week or so!

Here's a couple of pictures of my RJ58, when I started the restoration and where I am as of a couple of days ago. A lot of things changed over the last 57 years. The trans was locked up and had to be rebuilt, the gas tank was the wrong one, steering wheel was in bad shape. The hood had 13 extra holes, the Kohler was shot, ect.ect . You get the idea. Thanks to the members of this forum for the help, it makes working with this old iron a lot easier. I hope to finish her in a couple weeks.

Hi all, A while back i started a thread asking about the suitability of LED headlights for my A-800. I was in full swing with wiring them then I had 3 months with no tractor while it was at a friends workshop to help me with the exhaust. so I finally got it back and have really kicked off again. the LEDs are wired in and are really bright. At first I was unsure about the bright white light rather than the more yellow light from a filament bulb, but after testing I think the modern brightness contrasts nicely with the rustic old-ness!! I shall upload some more detailed shots and night testing tomorrow but for now here you are: nice old style lamps made by a company called Ring, not sure of the brand reputation but seem just fine to me. the LEDs are from eBay and labelled as 'Cree' 7W 12V LEDs. that's 7W for the two! LEDs are amazing: please excuse my rather shifty look! the photo, it was taken by surprise and it looks like i'm hot-wiring the tractor to steal it or something! lol the dog is Willow. the LEDs look quite unimpressive here but they are actually very bright: I shall explain and photograph the wiring and earthing methods tomorrow when i can get some good pictures. i hope you have enjoyed looking, Callum

I volunteered to do some drywall repairs at a nephew's house the other day to pay it forward from when I was sick, he helped me mow my grass one time. He said he would pay me for the repair work and I said I would have none of that! He said fine and I went to work. He was remodeling his big living room. I repaired the drywall with no problems and went back 3 times to remud it and sand it down smooth. During the work he mentioned he was going to install new base boards but wasn't good at doing carpentry work. I am a carpenter so I volunteered to do the base boards in the room and the casing around two big windows. He said that was cool and mentioned if I would do that then he would just give me his old mower that he had in the garage since he knew I was a mower freak! My ears perked up! I asked what kind did he have and he said a old zero turn mower! I said I would like to see that, so we went out to his garage and under a ton of junk was his "old" zero turn mower. A Woods Mowing Machine with a 2 cylinder Kohler Engine with 605 hours on it! We took off all the junk piled on it and it was a sweet mower in great condition! New bar lug tires, new spindles on the gigantic 60 inch front mounted deck, new $300 drive shaft and a dead battery! He said it runs just needs a new battery put in it! He said he got tired of it breaking down so he bought a new Scagg zero turn for $8500.00! This Woods mower is about a $3000 to $4000 mower I figure! The mower deck lifts up in the front for easy cleaning and blade sharpening and maintenance! A very cool option that his new mower didn't even have! It even has head lights! This thing is a brute and it is about 7 feet long! I will clean off all the dirt and dust from it sitting unused for more than a year and it will look like a new one! I will do the carpentry work pretty soon and haul the Woods mower out of there asap! Kaching!

Some of you may remember I had to scratch build a hitch for my GT14 three years ago. They are rare in Europe and expensive to ship, so I made my own. Fast forward a few years and Bendy needed one (well I wanted one) this time it was a little trickier, as the backend is a Raider 10. Anyway it kinda hangs together and I thought I'd share what I did to make it work. Starting with the lower bracket that clamps to the rear transmission. This is an exact copy of the one used on my GT14. And a top link bracket Which attaches to a C series fender bracket in a similar way to the rock shaft used on the rear clevis hitch. On with the lower arms, these are 2" wide steel cut from an old joist. Here is drilling the 1-1/4" hole for a spherical bearing. And the finished holes For the implement end I decided to make them a bit neater and turned some big discs down to fit the bearing shown at the end. The cranks were done in the press Here are both arms ready for the ends welding on And with the end welded on For the lift arms I used bottle screws/rigging screw/turnbuckle, from a boat shop. In order to make it all fit they were shortened, and then to allow plenty of movement I used M12 rose joints for the top pivot The heavy lifting is courtesy of a 2-1/2" ram which has rose joints at either end. Here's the final assembly And with the rear fender mounted and a piece cut out for the top link. Happy with how it all hooked together - it almost looks factory fit Mark

About ten years ago I picked up this 400 Suburban near Geno's place, bet I couldn't get away with that today!

Tractors have a weird way of bringing family and friends together.....awesome pic . Thanks! Mike........

This is unbelievable! It only goes to show what sniffing Radon fumes in your basement can do for your sports predicting ability! Imagine a guy from Chicago land actually bringing the state of Wisconsin out of the ashes of DOOM! Okay Steve, now you have to pick the Cubbies to win the series this year.. I bow before before the Great and Powerful Dino and his All Seeing Eye! ( or is it Stink Eye!)

The secret...don't confuse projects with a "to do list". I think we all have a "to do list" that goes to the 1st star on the right and straight on until morning...Never, Never Land. I don't know...I just get more satisfaction out of finishing the thing I started, then I do having 2 or 3 things going at a time and nothing gets done. "The sun is going to rise...tomorrow. Take the time to watch paint dry." it is as good as going fishing.

Why are you replacing or rebuilding this engine. So far you have stated two problems. A bad oil filter base gasket...about a $4.00 fix. A flywheel that you are having trouble installing. Can you give us more details. Why did you remove the flywheel? Did it quit running due to no spark or no fuel? Was it smoking before it quit? BTW, it is tight, but it is possible to remove the rear head with the engine in place. I decarbed both cyls on my 220 w/o unbolting the engine from the frame.

Your right about that...I feel sorry for anyone in this hobby in that area! Mike.........

It was mine turn today

Doing carpentry work usually it's, "Measure twice, cut once" but; now you can measure twice and "cut" twice, once on the wood and once on the grass! Great nephew, and great deal.

if loose, retorque clean up real good and put the pulley back on and run it for a short while and see what it looks like. now that you had it apart it will come apart easier next time. you can pull it apart and replace the gasket. talk to boomer in influence on here he has the parts and knowledge to help you. i have pulled the bearing plate off but have never tried to put it back together. your main bearing is in the plate so i would hate to have you mess that up some how. do some homework before tearing into it good luck eric j

Talk about too many projects at once!!! Thats me for sure. I've been MIA on RS because of it. Right now I am having the hall bath and hallway remodeled. Not just repainting and installing anew shower curtain either! Its been a total demolition of everything from the floor joist to the roof rafters. We have moved two walls, replaced the entire subfloor, cut out the old roof trusses, vaulted the ceiling in the bathroom, and raised the flat ceiling in the hallway plus widened the hallway. All the plumbing has been replaced, the toilet relocated, a new one piece shower stall with a seat installed, the new base cabinet is on order, all the ceilings are now tongue and groove beaded board, the walls all have wainscot with chair railing. There is a big piece of slate recessed in the floor in front of the shower and oak hardwood everywhere else in the bathroom and hallway. We built a new linen closet at the end of the hallway. Its a heck of alot of work for the amount of square feet. In the end though I know it will be worth all the effort The other project I'm working on at the same time is hauling logs and racking them up in a staging area to be cut into firewood. Right now I have at least two tractor trailer loads stacked up. These logs are left over from some commercial logging that was done on 40 acres of the property where I live. I'm hoping next Winter will be a cold one so the firewood business will be good. Oh, and I'm working a full time job too so right now I basically have no free time at all. I'm still planning to attend the Big Show this Summer. You'll know me when you see me. I'll be the totally worn out looking guy asleep in the lounge chair sitting next to Jay

Iam gonna go look at a 551 wh and the seller won't give me a price he said he's open for offers, anyway iam just looking for opinions on what others think this is worth. He said the motor is just setting in it and the deck comes with it and is in good shape.

yes i sure can! they will be coming tomorrow, cameras aren't the best at showing the brightness of lights, auto exposure and such. I will shine a maglite next to it for comparison. I'm sure you all know what sort if light they chuck out. callum

Yeah I got hosed. Oh well after I get both engines rebuilt they should be good for another 40 years. Lol

Very nice photo. How does you poor pooch remember it's name?

These two were for sale at a local auction this week. No history was available for either tractor. The RJ58 did not run, was redone with rattle cans, hood was wrinkled, good snow plow, new rear ags, engine was not froze and felt like it had good compression. The B-100 was all original paint with new decals, a perfect deck with original paint and decals, it ran and sounded perfect. The RJ sold for $325, Of course I don't know how high I would have had to go to get it. The B-100 I really wanted and stopped at $650. The auctioneer then said let it sit, he had a reserve that he never disclosed. So I came home with nothing in my mirror. OK, how bad did I goof up ?

Easter shmeaster ! I just spent the last two hours with my head in the cupboard putting a new kitchen faucet in . A hundred bucks I really didn't want to blow . Guess I'll be working late tomorrow night Looks like you had fun though

Looks like fun kate - You know what... Might have to get mine out in the sun tomorrow :)

Great picture, certainly looks fun. This makes me eager to get my suburban out! Happy easter Tom

Mine is still in hibernation . My back yard is a pond . I actually had a duck back there Friday morning

Not exactly what you're looking for Jack. My inside measurements are length =42 1/2 front width = 32 rear width = 25 1/2 The fiberglas is ~3/16 thick and it has a 1/2" wide drip lip all the way around. So you can add 1 3/8 to all the measurements if you want maximum outside numbers.

Or make one, just draw around a gasket drill the holes and cut it out. I did the same thing!

Got the old Electro 12 out today and threw the plow on the back. Just couldn't wait any longer to see if this old sway back could still pull. 90% of the plowed area was grass and pretty tough till I raised the plow a bit. Looks kind of ugly, but you gotta start somewhere.

That is what it's all about! Thanks for sharing Kate. Happy Easter!!

Gun mount 😉

Very nice. It reminds me of the video with Cecil's kids riding the tractor around in the winter. I wish that I could break out the tractors here, but the lawn is like the great swamp! Now we just need to figure out a way to slip "Pond" in with your puppy's name

Beautifull, and thanks for sharing. Happy Easter to you and yours to. Glenn

Thanks, now I wait until it warms up to plant. Maters and peppers already started in the house

Make note of the ENGINE Model and Serial Number. Early LXI machines had a trouble prone PLASTIC CAM GEAR (premature wear/failure) Kawasaki engine which was upgraded to a steel cam gear in later builds. With the engine serial number you will be able to search the web to determine which version engine is in the machine you are looking at. Not the end of the world if it has a plastic cam gear, just factor in the cost of repair as as you evaluate the machine and its asking price. Other than the cam gear, the machines are virtually bullet proof and the liquid cooled Kawasaki is likely, with proper maintenance, a 2000 hour engine.

Nice scores Keith... can't wait to see the new 35 too.

Someone is approaching a perfect slate That was one wail of a game!

Mine leaked like a sieve at that same place. In fact, it was so loose, you could see the bearing plate vibrate when I bought it. Was leaking a pint a minute. All I did was tighten it down and all has been good since in my possession. I even bought a crank seal and gasket but never used it. Still sitting on the shelf.

That a huge mower....you got a lot of grass?? Mike.......

Nice scores, your gonna be busy. Glenn

Cast iron block=HH60. Aluminum block=H60. Other than being original, the HH is better in about every way. Somewhere I saw a list of the internal differences. Stuff like forged rod and piston instead of cast. Stellite exhaust valve. Some hardening on cam and crank journals. I say rebuild and run it.

Louver punching is a dying art, a fad from the 60's that doesn't seem to be surviving. The few hot rod shops that still do it seem to get around $3 to $5 per punch. Your metal must be completly bare, so no paint residue gets left in the die. These D200 hoods test the dies to the max, as they are MUCH thicker than a typical car hood.

and for real comfort... at $350 http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200268424_200268424

Here is a cold start of the Predator

Thanks for comments. Never had a garden this size, but newly acquired electro w/ plow and cultivator gave me a reason to do it. Now if I could just get my wife to do all the weeding.

I notice you didn't include a pic of the box it came in Jim! I was doing some work in the pharmacy and they have all these novelty signs all over the place. I saw that little sign and said, " I know the perfect guy for that sign!" so I snagged it. Then I needed a box for it and didn't want to be sending it in a giant box. I was walking past our supply room and they had a bunch of boxes out and I grabbed a box that I thought it would fit perfect in. I didn't realize it was a box for catheters until I got back to the shop. Even more perfect! Glad you enjoyed it Jim and hope you laugh as much as I did buying and shipping it!

take the deck belt off and mow with one blade the center one that has the pto belt on that would be 16" or so eric j

Here are some possibilities for you: A Kohler KT17 or KT19 Series II motor with a 2.75 to 3.5 inch shaft/inch and an eighth in diameter and quarter-inch key. Only a Series II motor. These are old and getting pretty scarce in good working order! A Kohler Magnum 18 or 20 with a 2.75 to 3.5 inch shaft/inch and an eighth in diameter and quarter-inch key. A lot of Cub Cadets came with a magnum engine and shared the same specs. Some Wheelhorses too. A Kohler Command in 18+ HP. Same specs as above new or used BUT the PTO isn't going to be in the exact spot that the Magnum is in. (The Magnum mimics the Kohler KT 17 & 19 that Wheelhorse used). A Briggs Vanguard 16 to 23 HP. Same specs as above new or used. Several members have done this swap. The PTO needs to be aligned to the factory position. See this repower link using a Briggs Vanguard at 23 horsepower: http://www.smallenginewarehouse.com/386447-WH520H-R1.html?sc=17&category=1711100 The Honda GX series with a 20HP/same specs as above new or used. Again, a few members have done this swap. The PTO needs to be aligned to the factory position. The Harbor Freight Honda GX clone new with the above specs. (Just not certain about how dependable these China-clones are). The PTO needs to be aligned to the factory position. Kohler K-series 16 horse only from a Wheelhorse or same specs as WH. Buy a used lower hour Onan P Series or the B48's that preceded the P series engines. The older Onans will also require modifications. Only the WH Onan P-Series will bolt on and wire up to everything that is on the tractor now. You will lose some gauge functionality with other motors. Some of the idiot lights will also not function. Other mods will ultimately need done too. Think of the muffler positions, engine pan mounts, choke and throttle linkages, etc.

Thanks. It's getting there.. That's why I've not done the prop shaft yet Well, the steering saga continues.. But not for much longer Although the steering kinda worked, it had two main problems. One of them was the Ackerman angle thingy, being not quite right.. A play with moving the track rods a bit higher got it better.. But the main problem was all down to the gearing in the 90 degree steering box thingy.. Lock to lock was only an 8th of a turn of the steering wheel, which of course made the steering very heavy! The only other 90 degree box thingy I have is this odd shaped, very heavy and totally unsuitable for the job final drive from the Honda SilverWing which donated it's engine to a higher cause So a bit of a rethink was needed.. This steering arm was made from 3 bit's of 6mm thick steel.. It fit's here, under the left hand steering pivot hub thingy.. It's on tacked on in this photo.. The steering box thingy was rotated 90 degrees to the right, tilted 90 degrees to the left, reunited with it's original base, and bolted to the flat grey plate that was moved from under the chassis rails to above... I hope you followed that If you did manage to follow the above then you will of guessed by now that Why Not is going lever steer A rather long rod connecting both sides together.. Lock to lock is now a tad under half a turn of the steering wheel which is much better and the steering turns much easier.. Which is nice I think I may well move the connecting rod bit's to behind the hubs which will stop them getting bent should a tree ever be foolish enough to get in the way Oh.. And the steering column needs to be shortened

I got it all out just have to get packaged up it a bit odded shape and want to make it fit in a small box to keeping shipping costs down for Frank I was going to give him a call this weekend

slammer302...?????????? what is going on here...I would have thought you had sent that trans to Frank by now. Anything I can do to help??